Motorcyclists, Check In Here!

[BigK]

56 minutes ago, jaytex1969 said:

About to pick up a very minty 1980 XS650.

Will probably trade off one of the Valkyries once the XS passes muster.

Jay

 

Great bike. I love the thumpers from that era. They were rock solid! Congrats

[OLDNEWBIE]

18 hours ago, jaytex1969 said:

About to pick up a very minty 1980 XS650.

Will probably trade off one of the Valkyries once the XS passes muster.

Jay

 

That was my ride as a teenager in S Florida! Yamaha 650 special, same color/year. I sure felt cool tooling around on it.

Recently got back into riding after many decades and am enjoying my Honda cmx500 on these twisty country roads around Cookeville and Sparta but sure miss that Yamaha.

[OldIronFan]

Had my first real blow out on a bike Easter Sunday. I have had flats before but never a true blow out that happened without warning. 

I was on Hwy 78 outside of Tupelo MS on the edge of the Holly Springs National Forest. Not the middle of no where but close enough. The road surface was good but not great, it had a bit of a ripple to it. I felt a shudder and rolled off the throttle. This induced a bit of headshake so I rolled back on the throttle to see if it would smooth out. It did smooth out for just a few seconds and I briefly thought it must have been undulations in the road surface. That thought vanished when the back of the bike began to buck vertically and shake fairly aggressively. I was in the left lane a touch over 70 mph and had recently passed two vehicles. I took a panic look over my right shoulder eased on the brakes and started to head for the shoulder. Once below 40 or 50 mph the bike began to violently wag its tail horizontally. Trying to scrub speed aggressively but smoothly I aimed for the white line so if I did go down it was not down into the ditch. Once I saw that ditch was not deep there were no obstructions I went to the edge of the shoulder for the last few MPH under braking. At this point the bike was crab walking but swinging left to right as the now flat tire moved around on the rim. With both feet out to catch the bike I managed to stop it ungracefully but upright on the shoulder.

The tire was completely shredded and off the bead. It had taken out a lower chunk of the GS's rear fender or mud guard. There was rubber residue over most of the rear of the bike. I collected my thoughts (i.e. checked my shorts) and pulled the phone out to begin to asses my location and distance to the nearest exit or services. My tire kit and pump were not going to get me out of this one.

I logged a ticket with my Roadside Assistance app thankful for a decent cell signal and waited for their call. which came moments later. I confirmed my location and status with them and they dispatched the call to a Tupelo wrecker service. I received a text confirmation at 6:14pm with the towing providers contact info and an eta of 7:29 pm. A bit more than an hour but perfectly acceptable. As I waited I checked in with my wife, found a shop in Tupelo that would be open the following morning, booked a room at the local Hilton Garden, and got a call into my elderly parents to check in on them. A bit after 7pm I got a call from the wrecker to confirm my location and drop a pin to assist in him locating me. It was at the end of this call I got the news I did not want to hear, another 2 hours before he could get to me. He was over an hour east of Tupelo and I was 30 to 40 minutes west of it. He was the only wrecker in their fleet with the gear to haul a motorcycle safely. Further complicating it was I was on the east bound side 8 miles past the last exit so he had to pass me headed west to turn around and get to me on the other side of the divided highway, another 15 minutes added. The wrecker finally showed at 9:20 pm a full 3 hours after I spoke with roadside assistance and 2 hours after the original ETA. The operator was professional and loaded the bike safely but slowly. It was 10:45 pm before we were at the local shop and unloading the bike. He dropped me at my hotel a bit over a mile down the road and was getting checked in just after 11pm, 5 hours after the tire failure.

Carnage pics below.

 

Many thanks to the folks at Fuel Cycles in Tupelo, MS. They were at the shop early Monday morning and actually had a tire in stock. They had it mounted and back on the bike by about 9:10 am which is impressive since they normally don't open until 9am. It took me longer to take the bags off the bike and reload everything than it did for them to change the tire.

I was on the road before 10am headed North and East. I took a leisurely pace toward Nashville since I had to take the day off anyway. Picked up part of the Natchez Trace and some other county roads for the 250~300 miles home. Got home just after lunch and decompressed for a few hours before mowing the lawn.

TPMS is on order along with a new front and a matching new rear to replace the 140/70-17 that the shop had with the correct 150/70-17.

[Darrell]

Wow! I've never seen a tire fail like that during street riding. Generally, a delamination like that only happens on the race track at high temperatures.  I can't see the brand of tire in those pics, do you mind sharing?  I run Bridgestone or Michelin for the most part, but have Dunlops on my HD.

I'd send photos to the tire manufacturer. I'm betting they'd like to have that tire for analysis, and might provide you with a new one.

A couple of questions:

Did you check tire pressure before your ride? How much pressure were you running?

Was the rim damaged? 

How old was the tire?  (manufacture date?)  It looks like it had plenty of tread life remaining.

Finally, what was the approximate air temperature?

Nice job of not crashing! I've had tires go flat, and it's a handful, but never had one throw a huge chunk of tread like that. It sure looks like a defective tire, assuming that the pressure was good.

Edited April 12, 2023 by Darrell

[OldIronFan]

It was a Metzeler Tourance that was put on last year. I did not get the date code off of it unfortunately.
I checked pressures at 5 am before leaving the house. I run 38/42 normally and they were 36/41 when I checked.  
The tire had 6k~7k miles on it. Should have had 2k~3k left before I replaced it before my big trip next month. 
This occurred at just over 600 miles and 12 hours of riding for the day. It was about 120 miles from my last fuel stop. 
It was in the low 40's when I left the house, crept up into the low 70's and was dropping back into the 60's at this point. 

I suspect that I picked something up in the last few hundred miles of the day and it was getting low. That area is straight and flat. I had the throttle lock/cruise set for miles at a time without adjustment so i did not notice any ill handling or odd tracking before the failure occurred. It probably built up some heat and just let go at a weak spot. 

Several people have reported that Metzelers are known for delaminating like that. In fact the guys at the shop that replaced it said it was what they called "The Metzeler Shred" so apparently it happens often enough that it has a nickname. It was not the only time I heard that nickname as I have told this story to some other riding folks. 

The Rim was not damaged that I could see. Lots of rubber debris to clean up. It did take out part of the rear fender (Plastic) so I will have to trim or replace that. I ordered new tires and a TPMS setup with two sensors to mount when I put those new tires on. If I had gotten a temperature warning or slow leak warning earlier I might have avoided it all. I do carry a small pump, tire plug kit, rubber cement, and basic tire tools when I travel so I may have been able to address a screw or nail and gotten to some sort of services before failure. 

This was on a 2005 BMW R1200GS. Did have the bags and trunk on it but they were mostly empty as it was just a day ride. I had some raingear, tool kit, tire kit, and an extra fleece jacket in the luggage so I was not overloaded and riding solo.  

[BigK]

Dang, what an adventure. Glad you're okay. That was an unbearable amount of time from calling for a tow to getting some rest at the hotel.

[Smith]

I run the Fobo 2 Tpms sensors on all my bikes now. I thought they were overpriced and unnecessary till they saved my back end. I highly recommend them.

[OldIronFan]

2 minutes ago, BigK said:

Dang, what an adventure. Glad you're okay. That was an unbearable amount of time from calling for a tow to getting some rest at the hotel.

Yes it was. In the dark with nothing to sit on or lean against. I wanted to stay well off the shoulder/road so I wandered down to the tree line but did not want to get into the undergrowth or weeds too much to avoid getting attacked by chiggers, ants, ticks, or some other pest in there. Fortunately the ditch area was wide and apparently recently mowed. 

I eventually took a hard bag off the bike and sat on that for a bit but it was not that comfortable on the incline of the ditch. 

[OldIronFan]

4 minutes ago, Smith said:

I run the Fobo 2 Tpms sensors on all my bikes now. I thought they were overpriced and unnecessary till they saved my back end. I highly recommend them.

I went with an internal sensor model more similar to OEM units. I have heard mixed reviews of the tire cap sensor style systems so I spent the extra for internals. I had to have the tires off soon anyway so installing the sensors at that point is easy. 
Any warning would have been nice. 

[BigK]

Just now, Smith said:

I run the Fobo 2 Tpms sensors on all my bikes now. I thought they were overpriced and unnecessary till they saved my back end. I highly recommend them.

I have Fobo TPMS on mine too. I LOVE them, but they make airing up a pain. Next tire change I'm adding t-valves so I can leave the TPMS in place and still air up.

[BigK]

6 minutes ago, OldIronFan said:

I went with an internal sensor model more similar to OEM units. I have heard mixed reviews of the tire cap sensor style systems so I spent the extra for internals. I had to have the tires off soon anyway so installing the sensors at that point is easy. 
Any warning would have been nice. 

What brand did you go with. I'd like to look into that too.

[OldIronFan]

2 minutes ago, BigK said:

What brand did you go with. I'd like to look into that too.

Sykik, 

https://sykik.com/collections/wireless-tire-pressure-monitor/products/inner-tire-pressure-monitor

It was recommended by someone on another page. I will try to remember to report back once I get them installed and checked out. 

[peejman]

5 hours ago, OldIronFan said:

Had my first real blow out on a bike Easter Sunday. I have had flats before but never a true blow out that happened without warning. 

I was on Hwy 78 outside of Tupelo MS on the edge of the Holly Springs National Forest. Not the middle of no where but close enough. The road surface was good but not great, it had a bit of a ripple to it. I felt a shudder and rolled off the throttle. This induced a bit of headshake so I rolled back on the throttle to see if it would smooth out. It did smooth out for just a few seconds and I briefly thought it must have been undulations in the road surface. That thought vanished when the back of the bike began to buck vertically and shake fairly aggressively. I was in the left lane a touch over 70 mph and had recently passed two vehicles. I took a panic look over my right shoulder eased on the brakes and started to head for the shoulder. Once below 40 or 50 mph the bike began to violently wag its tail horizontally. Trying to scrub speed aggressively but smoothly I aimed for the white line so if I did go down it was not down into the ditch. Once I saw that ditch was not deep there were no obstructions I went to the edge of the shoulder for the last few MPH under braking. At this point the bike was crab walking but swinging left to right as the now flat tire moved around on the rim. With both feet out to catch the bike I managed to stop it ungracefully but upright on the shoulder.

The tire was completely shredded and off the bead. It had taken out a lower chunk of the GS's rear fender or mud guard. There was rubber residue over most of the rear of the bike. I collected my thoughts (i.e. checked my shorts) and pulled the phone out to begin to asses my location and distance to the nearest exit or services. My tire kit and pump were not going to get me out of this one.

I logged a ticket with my Roadside Assistance app thankful for a decent cell signal and waited for their call. which came moments later. I confirmed my location and status with them and they dispatched the call to a Tupelo wrecker service. I received a text confirmation at 6:14pm with the towing providers contact info and an eta of 7:29 pm. A bit more than an hour but perfectly acceptable. As I waited I checked in with my wife, found a shop in Tupelo that would be open the following morning, booked a room at the local Hilton Garden, and got a call into my elderly parents to check in on them. A bit after 7pm I got a call from the wrecker to confirm my location and drop a pin to assist in him locating me. It was at the end of this call I got the news I did not want to hear, another 2 hours before he could get to me. He was over an hour east of Tupelo and I was 30 to 40 minutes west of it. He was the only wrecker in their fleet with the gear to haul a motorcycle safely. Further complicating it was I was on the east bound side 8 miles past the last exit so he had to pass me headed west to turn around and get to me on the other side of the divided highway, another 15 minutes added. The wrecker finally showed at 9:20 pm a full 3 hours after I spoke with roadside assistance and 2 hours after the original ETA. The operator was professional and loaded the bike safely but slowly. It was 10:45 pm before we were at the local shop and unloading the bike. He dropped me at my hotel a bit over a mile down the road and was getting checked in just after 11pm, 5 hours after the tire failure.

Carnage pics below.

 

Many thanks to the folks at Fuel Cycles in Tupelo, MS. They were at the shop early Monday morning and actually had a tire in stock. They had it mounted and back on the bike by about 9:10 am which is impressive since they normally don't open until 9am. It took me longer to take the bags off the bike and reload everything than it did for them to change the tire.

I was on the road before 10am headed North and East. I took a leisurely pace toward Nashville since I had to take the day off anyway. Picked up part of the Natchez Trace and some other county roads for the 250~300 miles home. Got home just after lunch and decompressed for a few hours before mowing the lawn.

TPMS is on order along with a new front and a matching new rear to replace the 140/70-17 that the shop had with the correct 150/70-17.

Saw this on ADV.....  small world. 

[OldIronFan]

1 hour ago, peejman said:

Saw this on ADV.....  small world. 

Yep, been on that site and this one for many years. I think we even crossed paths on the old East Tennessee Riders page that was pretty popular in the early 2000's. I still have an East Tennessee Riders Ironbutt sticker on my VFR from 2007 or 2008 I think. 

[jaytex1969]

Well, I was coming here to piss and moan about not getting the XS650 after all, but I defer any remaining piss and moan time to @OldIronFan!

 

Glad you are here in one piece to share that with us.

 

As for the XS, the seller and I had divergent opinions on condition and value, so I will continue searching. Just messaged a local KLR650 seller.....

 

[peejman]

1 hour ago, OldIronFan said:

Yep, been on that site and this one for many years. I think we even crossed paths on the old East Tennessee Riders page that was pretty popular in the early 2000's. I still have an East Tennessee Riders Ironbutt sticker on my VFR from 2007 or 2008 I think. 

Yep. I still have an ETR shirt. 

[gregintenn]

Oh my! It’s great you avoided getting killed or injured, but man that had to suck. I often wonder what I’d do in such a situation when riding through Backwater, Kentucky and haven’t seen an automobile in hours, and no cell signal. Walking is all I can figure.

[BigK]

@peejman @OldIronFan

Found y'all on ADV, good to know fellas on both forums. I'm GunNut37086 on most forums except this one.

[gregintenn]

I picked up a windshield for mine the other day. I was sort of worried these bags would be too much weight on the rear, but the wife and I put over 500 miles on it in the last 3 days, and I can't tell the bags are back there. It was her first trip on a bike. Except for not being able to take everything we own, she seemed to enjoy the ride.

[Capbyrd]

I’ve been riding to work nearly every day for over a month.  Managed to avoid the rain.   I got here this morning at 8 am and there was rain predicted at around 1 am.   Now it’s moved to about 11:30 pm which is right before I leave to go home.  Looks like I’m getting wet tonight…

[Darrell]

9 hours ago, Capbyrd said:

Looks like I’m getting wet tonight…

I carry rain gear when there's a legitimate threat. My Frogg Toggs have been with me for many years, and they work great. EXCEPT that if it's warm you may as well save the effort, as you'll be in a sauna. My main complaint with riding in the rain is having to clean the bike afterward.

[peejman]

5 minutes ago, Darrell said:

I carry rain gear when there's a legitimate threat. My Frogg Toggs have been with me for many years, and they work great. EXCEPT that if it's warm you may as well save the effort, as you'll be in a sauna. My main complaint with riding in the rain is having to clean the bike afterward.

I try to avoid the rain as well, and I agree on the rain gear.  If it's the usual summer showers, it's better to just get a little wet than go sous vide in the rain gear. Once the shower passes, you'll be dry again pretty fast. 

Riding in the wet will also make you a smoother rider. Decent tires provide a lot more grip than most people think in the wet, just gotta be smooth.  

[gregintenn]

LOL! Rain gear in hot weather is pointless. You can either get wet, or you can get wet and stink. Your choice.

[jaytex1969]

I've not found any other 80's UJM's to consider, so Sunday I'm going to look at a BMW R1150RTP, ex CHP police bike.

I don't know squat about BMW's, but have learned through watching videos for the past few days that BMW stands for Bring More Wallet!

Wish me luck, haha!

[gregintenn]

1 hour ago, jaytex1969 said:

I've not found any other 80's UJM's to consider, so Sunday I'm going to look at a BMW R1150RTP, ex CHP police bike.

I don't know squat about BMW's, but have learned through watching videos for the past few days that BMW stands for Bring More Wallet!

Wish me luck, haha!

I don't know squat about them either, but I've always wanted to ride one.